Ann'mui (Post Suicide War)
"Where the sunrises are green, the waters warm, and a sky full of stars, we regain what was lost. We are united, not just in the name of the Empress, but in the name of the people. We are survivors, we are warriors, we are the Ann'mui." ~Me'qerial Ta-ora The Survivors Following the Suicide War and its incredible toll on the Ann'mui, under the orders of Areti'qas, the Third Ta-ora, a small group of thirty Ann'mui abandoned the burning Volatara, settling instead on her proposed "Sister-world" of S'sata'vol. The sheer, untold amount of death and suffering bestowed onto the Ann'mui people rocked the culture to its roots, causing an unadulterated upheaval of multiple fundamental beliefs. The Ann'mui are a very culturally-driven, tall, intelligent species of humanoids, hailing originally from the far-distant dwarf planet of Volatara. Their history before the rise and fall of the First Galactus is very largely unknown, as, especially in the wake of the Suicide War, the Ann'mui are incredibly defensive of their culture and stories, keeping them exclusively to themselves when they can manage it. The earliest known confirmed record of their existence comes from the Old Republic, in the form of an ancient folk song, which was popularized massively by the First Galactus taking it and remaking it into their anthem, which inspired both terror and hope in the Galaxy for sixty-six years until their downfall in the Battle of Geonosis. One of the most well-recognized traits of the species as a whole, other than their vastly different physical variations, is the prominence of females over males. Unlike Humans or other similar races, where the male-female difference is split roughly half-and-half, the Ann'mui see a starkly greater female population. While, oddly, there is no bias towards or against either, with recognition falling relatively evenly between them based on accomplishments, this is very largely attributed to the Ann'mui culture as a whole, with its heavy emphasis on respect and dignity. Over the one-hundred years since the Suicide War, the forty-eight total survivors of the Ann'mui have only grown their numbers to one-hundred-forty, as the female prominence has proven to effectively be their death knoll. Influential Organizations C'ei Arcen Galactus Founded sixty-six years before the Battle of Geonosis, the First Galaxy (A shortened title, with the full being, "C'ei Arcen Galactus dul c'ei Ann'mui," or, in Basic, "The First Galaxy of the Ann'mui,") remains the single-most powerful Ann'mui organization in history, commanded to the finest degree by the Wyrlit Pure, Ar-i. The goal of the First Galaxy was solely pure, in the beginning- That being to save the Ann'mui from their cruel world- the vision and subsequent corruption shared between the Ann'mui within the army and Ar-i himself, and, in the end, the goal was finally accomplished, with the Ann'mui declaring peace to the Galaxy, and eventually earning themselves a representative seat in the Galactic Senate, accomplished by Ar-i's daughter, Na-zari. With a fighting force that progressively grew more and more dangerous as the war went on, and technology the likes of which history had never seen, the First Galaxy's almost-immediate conquering of ninety-eight percent of the known Galaxy was described by worlds left alive to witness it as a rolling tide, sweeping carelessly over entire star systems and dragging them out into the sea that was their conquest. C'ei Uxi'ava Galactus The most ancient of all the Ann'mui organizations, having been founded in the Old Republic era by Areti'qas-mahl Ta-ora, who became well-known for this and the creation of the Ta-oran Cliff City as "The Third Ta-ora." The Final Galaxy, born of the nihilistic visions granted by Areti'qas' possession by Volatara Herself, existed to defend the Motherworld and eventually abolish Humanity's prominence in the Galaxy in a counterattack, though the Suicide War and it's annihilation of the Ann'mui, with Areti'qas included among the casualties, proved this goal to be forevermore unreachable. Contributions Ann'mui Steel Due to the efforts of Te-ren, the extremely durable metal known as "Ann'mui Steel" was decoded, and a synthetic version of near-identical strength was released to the New Galactic Republic, which then turned into the Sith Allegiance, and spread the knowledge of the material which once made the fleets of the First Galaxy nigh-unstoppable. Biology Through the entirety of their history, Ann'mui biology has been a mystery. From the stark physical differences within their own species, to their deceptive leanness, they have confounded science to no end, with the most the Galaxy knew of them coming from highly-educated hypotheses. Few, if any bodies were ever even heard of being discovered, and even then, decomposition had already stolen the most valuable information, until, after the combined efforts of two morally-ambiguous men of science, First Galaxy High Admiral Talen'ta'rado and Te-ren Ta-ora, the enigma of the Ann'mui began unraveling, with detail being released to the public from these individual sources by brief articles or videos. Poison Much like most other life on Volatara, the Ann'mui are potently, lethally poisonous, to the point where a single ounce of blood has the strength to kill five fully-grown, physically fit Humans. So potent, in fact, is the Ann'mui poison, that during their prevalence before the Suicide War, blood donations from the Ann'mui were shipped straight to drug cartels for use in poison weapons. While not acidic in nature, when reacting to water, or the cellular material of other animals, Ann'mui blood has been known to make a slight hissing sound, which, if ingested, often makes the victim sound as if a match has been lit on them, earning it the nickname, "The Hiss of Death." The relationship Ann'mui have with their toxicity is strange in itself, as most other poisonous animals cannot be separated from their own poison, while Ann'mui, over the course of, on average, three weeks, can have the bacteria- To this day, still unnamed- which give them their potent poison removed entirely. Certain Axi, often hailing the Green Wall, would forego the standard rite of passage that most other clans utilize, and, instead, would opt for an unmedicated withdrawal from the poison, which, quite ironically, despite the agony the withdrawal itself caused, was considerably less fatal than the majority of other rites. While the poison made nearly any physical interaction with an Ann'mui extremely dangerous for most offworld life, the Ann'mui themselves, which inherit the bacteria while in the womb, possess a lifelong immunity to it by birth, regardless of whether their own has been removed. The bacteria can, technically, reenter the Ann'mui and cause them to regain their toxicity, the only known way to consistently end well, which was cited in Te-ren's notes with the rare, opinionated comment of "Unfortunately," involves cannibalism, which is very much against the general moral code within the species. The bacteria itself, without outside interference (No cannibalism, injection, ETC.,) originates from the mother, making a half-bred Ann'mui with a detoxed mother far, far more susceptible to their own peoples' poison. This, titled by Talen'ta'rado as 'Na-zari's Syndrome,' became a common plague to the Ann'mui during the time of the First Galactus' reign, and still has minor effects on the Ann'mui of current, with the most famous examples of this unfortunate circumstance being the two children of Na-zari, Neio'mai and Me'qerial. Variation The Ann'mui appear to have two visible variations (With the third being entirely psychological, and able to manifest in either, and the fourth requiring the individual to be possessed by one of the Ann'mui deities,) based on a genetic strain completely unique to the species that activates during pregnancy by seemingly-random chance, though the most widely-accepted hypothesis claims that this deviation to either Purity or Impurity is based on environmental conditions around the mother, as well as stress and habits. Due to this and having no real genetic bias towards activation or stagnation, Pures and Impures are, by technicality, not subspecies of each other, but rather, simply variations of the same template. Pure The more uncommon of the visible variants, Pure Ann'mui strongly resemble incredibly tall, lanky Humans, with skin tones ranging from pasty white to deep brown. Other than their absurd height, which averages out around 6'5, the most striking differences are hair and eye colour, which come in nearly every colour imaginable, from the infamous purple hair of mighty Ta-oras such as Ar-i, to vibrant red in their Te-anan counterparts. Impure While shorter and relatively physically weaker than Pure Ann'mui, the Impures make up the bulk of the population, compensating for their physical inferiority with numbers and, often, skill. Despite this, however, Impures are often beset by self-hatred for their bodies, seeing the rarity of Purity to make them superior, though most Pures typically do not see themselves in any way above their counterparts, and, in fact, often find them more beautiful than themselves. Physically, they appear no different from Twi'leks, save perhaps more muted, softer colours. Wyrlit The absolute rarest variation that an Ann'mui can be born with in general, Wyrlit, or "Titan" Ann'mui have one to three very specific traits that they can use skillfully beyond the point of reason, as well as an innate ability to lead, and remarkable intellect to boot. While Ann'mui themselves are generally by no means unintelligent or poor leaders, Wyrlit Ann'mui stand on a level all their own, often described as, "Radiating power and control" by both other Ann'mui and offworlders alike; So influential and powerful, in fact, that it is said that only the Ann'mui themselves accepting their defeat and actively seeking out their demise can successfully kill them. Extremely few Wyrlit Ann'mui have been recorded throughout their history, with, at most, six total confirmed cases in a span of well over three thousand years. Wyrlit Ann'mui * Er'lon-mahl, of the Ta-ora * Ta'mei, of the Narahai''(Credit to Aedrelle)'' * Ar-i, of the Ta-ora * Ark, of the Te-ana''(Credit to Surpremevoltage)'' * Blaisa, of the Ta-ora''(Credit to Araxai)'' * C'ei Arcen Spade''(Credit to Surpremevoltage)'' Vjeith'ka Vjeith'ka, which translates almost flawlessly into "Chosen," Ann'mui are a select, gifted few, often Wyrlit beforehand, who have been possessed by the Force manifestation of an Ann'mui deity. These Ann'mui, along with a massive boost to their natural strength appropriate to that of their possessor, also undergo minor physical changes over the extended course of their possession, from eye colour to the very substance of their blood, which turns into the scalding, light-blue, bioluminescent Yekovisarvaraal, or "Godfire." Vjeith'ka are considered demigods, of which there typically are none within the culture, and easily hold equal standing with the likes of Ivo'kera-zhen, and even Ar-i'aha Ivo'kera-zhen, though the latter was truly only the case for Na-zari, of the Ta-oras, due to her rather embarrassing failure in ruling her people. Extinct While only hypothesized, there were two supposed variations of Ann'mui, early on in their history, which were presumably similar to Humanity's ancient counterpart, the Neanderthals. In the Ann'mui genome, certain, odd strands with no known point of origin are found in every individual, suggesting that perhaps modern Ann'mui are the results of cross-breeding between these two ancestral variations, though what is known from this baseless DNA implies that these ancient Ann'mui appeared vastly different. Outside of this, their existences have been hinted at in ancient writings and art, though these have less substance to them, as the separate depictions could simply just be the early Ann'mui depicting their own Gods and Goddesses. C'ei Ai'vari The Gleaming were presumably natives of the Grand Plains, though the only evidence of this is by their name, the extremely dark skin- Almost featurelessly so, far beyond those in the desert Axi- And three ancient drawings, discovered in the deepest points of the Glowing Caverns. They were powerful, skilled warriors, towering well above the average height of modern Ann'mui, with far larger, stronger-looking bodies, whose mere presence was supposedly intimidating enough to even rival those of the two Dark Side Wyrlit, Ar-i and Ta'mei. C'ei Nataiil'in The Glowing, almost certainly, came from the Green Wall, due to their sheet-white skin and bright blue bioluminescent markings that, to this day, supposedly inspire Ann'mui war paint. Far thinner than their desert counterparts, The Glowing were far more elegant in appearance, though they would still tower over modern Ann'mui, and were just as fierce and dominating in combat. Due to the Axi's uncommonly large collection of relics relating to them, the Loalo are said to be their direct descendants, which, given the prevalence of Ta-oran Wyrlit, who are in themselves Loalo by origin, is a shockingly valid theory. The Purity Gene The specific gene sequence relating to the Pure-Impure difference, dubbed hastily as "The Purity Gene" by Te-ren Ta-ora, who initially discovered the existence of the gene itself through inhumane, yet scientifically invaluable experiments on his own people, while, again, seemingly random in natural activation, is technically still present in every Ann'mui, Pure or otherwise. The gene itself cannot naturally activate beyond the first two weeks of pregnancy, and, when activated, immediately begins resequencing the fetus' genome, changing the Twi'lek-like appearance of the infant to develop into their far more Human-like counterpart. Once activated, it cannot be reverted, however, it is possible to forcibly activate the Purity Gene in individuals of any age through undisclosed means, though the subsequent rewriting of the DNA causes horrendous health problems, shortly followed by death. Physique and Lifespan As they age, Ann'mui don't appear to change physically beyond early-to-late twenties, and remain in their physical prime until their bodies resume the process around one-hundred-twenty years old, after which they begin rapidly deteriorating for another forty years, appearing to be in their late seventies or eighties at around one-hundred-sixty. Beyond this point, they age at a slower, more normal rate, akin to that of their childhood, and, while most Ann'mui who die from old age are two-hundred to two-hundred-ten, smaller Ann'mui, who are far less likely to attain the health problems associated with the usual height and size of their species, can survive into their two-hundred-fifties, though such a case is rare. Due to the hostility of their original homeworld, the Ann'mui have extremely potent cellular regenerative properties, capable of prolonging their lives up to near of two centuries, so long as nothing actively cuts them down, be it illness or otherwise. However, due to their remarkable size, both in mass and height, with some, such as Areti'qas, having reached nine-and-a-half feet, the elongated lifespan usually winds up being detrimental in the long run, with physical health issues popping up almost immediately as the body begins aging physically again; Spinal warping, a slew of heart issues, even breathing problems in some as their size wars against the rules of biology themselves. Other than their height, Ann'mui are very consistently deceptively lean-appearing, with muscular structures entirely unique to them that allow their strength to be almost completely unnoticeable, as a survival mechanism designed to lead predators to underestimating how much of a threat they truly posed. The muscles, especially in the extremities such as arms and legs, are coiled extremely tightly around each other, similar to galvanized wire, which only tighten further as the muscles grow. This structural system, while excellent at hiding the individual's actual muscle mass, does come at a cost, as it can be extremely difficult for the Ann'mui to grow stronger, often requiring them to spend almost seventy percent of their lives building muscle in order to maintain peak physical performance, and, if morbidly atrophied, the coils disassemble, stiffening into a more human-like structure, which, at that point, is completely irreversible, rendering the Ann'mui "Crippled," in the words of Na-zari Ta-ora. To allow for the extreme power hidden behind their lean appearances, Ann'mui bone is absurdly dense, with rigid structures within the bone itself that coil and stiffen around each other like bricks and mortar, making them not only very difficult to fracture, but to shear. However, the incredible strength and resilience of the Ann'mui's physique comes at the cost of incredible weight, almost double the mass of the most muscular humans on average, with your everyday individual typically weighing in between six and seven hundred pounds. Some of the most well-known Ann'mui, occasionally referred to as "The Big Three," which were Na-zari, Areti'qas, and Ar-i himself, all of the Ta-ora E'olofaxi, were undoubtedly some of the largest among the species, with Areti'qas, the single largest Ann'mui in recorded history, having reached the absolute, finite point which the laws of physics prohibit any further progression- Reaching nearly a thousand pounds, at nine-and-a-half feet tall. Do to their size and strength, the Ann'mui, at least upon their original homeworld, had a fighting chance against even the likes of the Chainmouth Worms, but the monstrosities of Volatara were still more than enough to reduce the average lifespan to just over forty years- Leagues below even that of humans. Since migrating to S'sata'vol, however, their life expectancy has dramatically risen to one hundred twenty years, as this is roughly the time between "Purge Swarms" of the planet's native Kakov'yaka Au'piin'a. Bioluminescence While not immediately obvious, Ann'mui do possess bioluminescence to some extent, much like other creatures of Volatara. The origins and evolutionary purpose of it is unknown, but the most widely-accepted hypothesis is that the bacteria which makes the Ann'mui so lethally poisonous to consume, when exposed to nitrogen in planets' atmospheres, reacts in such a way that it produces light similar to the pigment of the tissue surrounding it, leading to odd variations in the colour of certain bioluminescent areas, such as the eyes. Blood Due to the poisonous chemical makeup of their blood (Assuming the generally-accepted theory is, in fact, correct,) Ann'mui blood is rather vibrantly bioluminescent, though the glow dies quickly as the blood coagulates, which, under the right circumstances, produced a look similar to that of flowing lava, with a faint red glow and blacker patches of dried blood down the center of the stream. While there are technically two different colours and substances, both bioluminescent, of Ann'mui blood, Vjeith'ka are so unbelievably rare that their light blue Yekovisarvaraal blood is considered an entirely different entity. Eyes Ann'mui irises, along with usually being a matching colour to their hair, are also very mildly bioluminescent, granting them more advanced, but still very much imperfect vision at night and in darker areas. An individual born on the Dark Half of Volatara, while the difference is almost unnoticeable, does, in fact, have slightly brighter eyes, and marginally superior night vision, though the advantage was clearly mid-evolution before the Suicide War, as it is neither beneficial, nor retains its strength into the Ann'mui's later years. Government Similar to the idea of countries, Axi are independent clans of Ann'mui, united under specific mindsets or by location. Before the Suicide War, there were upwards of three hundred individual clans recognizing themselves as independent Axi, over half of which were declaring themselves as such while still under the control of a larger Axi, which almost always resulted in catastrophic civil wars after an uneasy "Peace" between the original clan and the branch-off. While some clans were strong enough to survive these civil wars, and fewer still resulted in two independently-functioning Axi, such as the Te-ana giving rise to the Ta-ora, the majority would completely eradicate each other during these conflicts, resulting in an indefinitely-shifting political landscape that would likely have led to a worldwide war, had the First Galaxy not risen up and demonstrated onto the people exactly how willing they were to silence any competition with the destruction of the Te-anan capital in the icy Grand Plains. Axi are divided into three separate categories: Fa'xaia, which are Pure-exclusive, Faxia being the opposite, and E'olofaxi, which are a hybridized mix, the mindset of which is relatively recent, only appearing with the advent of the First Great Te-anan/Ta-oran Civil War, and remaining extremely infrequent since either, as the Ann'mui much are deeply ingrained in culture and customs to accept such an open-minded approach, though, due to both the infrequency and dominating political power of both the Ta-ora and Te-ana, any attempts to rise up and wage war against the two powerhouses often ended in a laughably swift defeat. Ann'mui do not follow the same naming system as the majority of the rest of the Galaxy, with only a single name, and perhaps a title, if the individual has earned it. However, because of the usage of first, middle, and last names by the rest of the Galaxy, the Axi name is used as a substitute for a last name. This has led to the misunderstanding that it is, in fact, a family last name, when in reality, the majority of Ann'mui who fly the banner of their Axi within their names aren't even remotely ''related by blood. The "Ruling family," for lack of a better term, of which there is only ever one, will frequently have the suffix of "-mahl" attached to their name, though in more modest individuals, this is foregone so as not to seem so different from their fellow Ann'mui. The plural forms of Axi are extremely confusing, as most terminology used in the process of explaining it is utterly lost in translation, but the most likely usages are: '''Axi - Plural and singular' Name - Refers to the Axi itself; Both plural and singular Name+s - Refers to the dominating family that founded the Axi Name+'s - Belonging to the Axi; Possessive Faxia and Fa'xaia History/Volataran World War The true origins of the two racially-driven Axi are unknown, with little-to-no surviving records of the true spark that lit the flame that remained burning, even to this day. However, once again, through the combined inquisitive probing of Talen'ta'rado and Te-ren, a sturdy enough hypothesis could be constructed, though even still, the story is largely unknown, with the majority being based on prehistoric art and nigh-unreadable tablets describing an event so remarkably catastrophic, it completely changed the course of the Ann'mui's future. This hypothesized event, which could only suitably be dubbed the Volataran World War, is often accredited to the extreme cultural focuses on honour and life present within all recorded Ann'mui history, in nearly every ensuing Axi since. In the infantile time of the Ann'mui's emergence as a powerful species of their own right quickly saw the rise of what was considered to be the first Axi, Lanara'to. Their seaside city of Vala'thjaan, near the Crescent Isles, rapidly grew, but, as the culture itself was still very much primitive, and moral boundaries had yet to be truly defined, one half of the city, of its own volition, established a separate government, declaring themselves the Kara-ken and immediately exiling any Impures within their proposed borders. In response, the Lanara'to exiled their Pures, though both sides came to realize in time that both actions only cost them more lives, as, in making a statement to the other by exiling one variation into the other, they strengthened their own enemies. As the feuding quickly grew less political, with assaults and riots occurring regularly in the streets of Vala'thjaan, other clans arose around the globe, spreading like a network from the original city's success, though the names of these numerous smaller cities have since been lost to time. While most of these clans were presumably neutral to the conflict within Vala'thjaan, some, likely colonies of either side, swore allegiance to either the Lanara'to or Kara-ken, the effects of which started a chain reaction through the neutral clans as the conflict escalated. With more neutral clans, previously unknown to either side, being discovered daily as colonists trekked across the globe, the manpower of the armies exploded, until word of the oncoming storm reached the most inhospitable, dangerous places on Volatara: the Grand Plains and Green Wall. From these two vastly different lands came streams of Ann'mui variations the likes of which have never been seen since, known as The Gleaming and The Glowing. The Pures and Impures of both split into their respective alliances, and from then on, the time of monumental, competitively-driven discovery came to a close as the armies, bolstered by the new powerhouses among their ranks, turned on each other, truly beginning the war itself. There is no telling how long the fighting truly lasted, but estimates put it at somewhere between two to three thousand years, with the Ann'mui, with a population once in the millions, being slaughtered in droves by their own kin until likely fewer than five hundred remained when the truce was finally drawn. In the process, two entire variations were either driven to extinction via murder or were so few in number that they bred themselves out of existence, and the divide between Pure and Impure was never repaired, or even touched on until the advent of E'olofaxi. While the original two clans did survive, in the end, only the Lanara'to survived up until the present day, with the Kar'kera-ken becoming the only truly successful female-exclusive clan in known history, dubbed the "Kar'kera-ken'vo," after a civil war which broke out following the world war. E'olofaxi History/The First Great Te-ana/Ta-ora Civil War In comparison to Faxia and Fa'xaia, E'olofaxi are extremely unconventional, not only choosing a more communist economic focus, but also allowing both Pure and Impure into their ranks. The prior decision, in particular, stirred dissent in its early history, as the fledgling Te-ana, who originally pioneered the E'olofaxi mindset, simply didn't have the industrial and trade capacity to compensate for the heavily restricted income to the government. These issues continued, in fact, until the split that re-revolutionized the already-revolutionary concept, as a rebellious group of Te-ana, under the command of three renegade brothers who had made their way into the E'olofaxi after being exiled from the Loalo, declared themselves their own Axi, under the name Ta-ora. The Ta-ora, who, initially, merely sought to improve on the concept written up by Spev'jlin, led a revolt after being repeatedly denied a voice on the Te-anan High Senate, gathering a large enough following to successfully make their escape through Volatara's Storm Wall on a small fleet of warships and smithy vessels, landing on the shores of the Loalo-occupied Hellfire Ridge, where, with their bows, swords, and freshly forged, soon-to-be-iconic shields, the revolutionaries drove the Faxia off their own land, claiming the volcano for their own. With territory, soldiers, and a strong leader in the Wyrlit Impure Er'lon, the three brothers took the title of Mahl, and immediately set to the development of their infrastructure, reestablishing the more capitalist economy of the other Axi. Enraged by the betrayal and subsequent success of the Ta-ora, the Te-ana declared their first civil war, which, unlike the second which ended in their culling at the hands of the Ta-oran First Galaxy, was a resounding victory. The Ta-ora, while still newly settled on Tirvahal Iriz and recovering from the losses they'd sustained in the war against the Loalo, suffered the loss of Er'lon, who, after being grievously injured from holding off wave upon wave of the Impures he'd once considered his own clan in a courageous stand to buy time for reinforcements, finally succumbed to his wounds. The loss of the Wyrlit struck the young Ta-ora, and, especially, Er'lon's brothers, who quickly descended into quarreling without their brother to moderate them, the intensity of which ended in yet another blow to morale as Appoz'li, the eldest of the three, exiled himself, braving the tumultuous atmosphere of Volatara and fleeing into the Galaxy. The youngest, Areti'qas, soon found himself in charge of running the Ta-ora, but, despite monumental odds stacked against him, accepted his role as the newly-instated Ivo'kera-zhen, and refused the Te-anan demands for their unconditional surrender, which earned him the attention of, and eventual possession by Volatara Herself. While the power boost he received as a result of this possession was truly monumental, it quickly made the young Ann'mui into a cocky, arrogant man, which was the first domino in the line that led to the decisive Te-anan victory. In the last three days of the war, after convincing the aging Appoz'li to return to the city as the situation grew increasingly dire, with Te-anan ships and soldiers having landed and established a forward base on the very shores the Ta-ora had landed on years before to launch their own invasion against the Loalo. Over the next two days, the Te-ana, vastly outnumbering their young counterpart, made their way into Areti'qas' prized Cliff City, where, on the final day, the brothers fought side-by-side one last time, defending the newly-constructed Palace Blaisa and all the Ta-oran refugees who sheltered there. Appoz'li, knowing their defeat to be inevitable, called the defenders from the walls and doors, dispatching his younger brother to scale the obsidian face of the volcano to plead with Volatara to assist them, and willingly stood alone, as Er'lon had, against the Te-anan invasion, holding out for nearly an hour until eventually being cut down. Volatara granted no generous mercy to the Ta-ora, opting only to allow them to continue their existence as a puppet colony of the Te-ana, which, for over three thousand years, made the Te-ana the single-most unstoppably powerful force on the planet. Areti'qas, wracked with grief at the monumental series of failures his command had become, allowed the Ta-ora to be a name remembered only in history, disregarding his title of Mahl and serving only as a joint commander under the direct control of the Te-anan government, thoroughly believing himself to be unfit for any higher position. As the two parties mingled, however, the economic state of both subtly changed over time, resulting in a concept similar to an unfinished plan of Er'lon's, which was abandoned after his death. While payment, by default, remained equal, it was based on tiers of production, which, in itself, was largely focused on individuals and what they could truly accomplish. Those who fought long and hard for their position were grouped into the Ar-i, or "Elite," which paid extremely well, while the middle-class Teri received more moderate pay. The third tier, while rather uncommonly granted as it conflicted with the general system of honour shared by the Ann'mui, technically still existed, which, after some years of development, attained the slang name of "T'iina," which stuck, due to a general lack of other titles for the caste. These terms, once adopted by the Te-ana, quickly spread across the planet, creating the social caste used to this day. Economy Despite having developed for so long in the edges of the Galaxy, so undisturbed, the Ann'mui have used very similar economic systems to those of offworlders, including the different theories, such as communism or capitalism, with most, if not all of the correlating political conflicts between them. Primarily, Ann'mui utilize something more similar to capitalism, with a currency of their own in the form of small, octagonal, Ann'mui Steel coins, known as "I'cci-bao," but there are still the massively successful, semi-communist E'olofaxi which, while certainly more vulnerable to sabotage, were the only Axi to ever take to the stars en masse before the Suicide War. I'cci-bao Other than Galactic Credits, I'cci-bao is the only accepted currency to the Ann'mui, with the latter still extremely irrelevant to this day, perhaps even moreso than the days of the First Galaxy, with the Ann'mui's newly-rediscovered isolation from the Galaxy at large. Taking the form of octagonal tokens, in five sizes, every coin has an identical design on both sides, resembling the Ann'mui symbol that correlates to Basic's "I," though a tad more intricate, with smaller designs surrounding the centerpiece. Ark I'cci-bao The most common of the five, one Ark coin, relative to the overall economy of the Ann'mui, almost perfectly equates to one Galactic Credit (1.00 GC = 1.52 USD,) though the relevancy of their similarity in worth has since faded, as the Galaxy, following the Suicide War, no longer recognizes I'cci-bao, however rare it may have been, even in the time of the First Galaxy. Ark I'cci-bao, at one-fourth of an inch, are essentially the "One-dollar bill" of the Ann'mui; Common, not entirely worthless, but not too useful in the same instance- The backbone, if you will, of the average wallet. Jei I'cci-bao A step up from Ark, the inch-wide Jei I'cci-bao are worth, as the name suggests, five times that of the previous iteration. On average, these coins tend to be slightly heavier, but only fractionally so, to prevent thieves from measuring the worth of someone's wallet just by feeling it in their hand, but tend to be visibly more ornate, and marginally thicker. Jei I'cci-bao could be considered, if Ark are the "One-dollar bill," to be very much the five-dollar counterpart. Ark-Jei I'cci-bao Worth thrice that of Jei I'cci-bao, Ark-Jei are the first of the truly noticeably different coins, being considerably heavier and more extravagant in design, though they, just like the other four, are made entirely from Ann'mui Steel, synthetic or otherwise.